Deborah Harris: A Strange Kind of Life
by JustAnotherGoofball
Summary: ..ON HIATUS.. Meet Deborah Harris. A sixteen year old tomboy from Castle Rock. Her only friends are male and the only place she feels at home is their treehouse. How will the boys react when she starts to grow into a woman? Some Romance too
1. Chapter 1

I am a girl. And I won't lie about it, most of the time I feel like a boy…a boy with boobs… But that's not the point, the point is all my friends are guys and they expect me to go and skip school to go joyriding cars, get drunk, smoke. I mean, it was okay when we were younger, I enjoyed being a "tom-boy", I liked wrestling them to the ground, climbing trees, being wild and free and having nothing to care about. But things…things were different now.

It happened when I was sixteen, we all were. And every time I wore a skirt or a dress, did my hair or put on make-up (which was rare), the guys would go all weird, and be degrading towards me, tell me to 'stop fooling around.' Verno was the only one who didn't treat me like someone else, although I didn't appreciate how often he'd say: "Gee, Debbie, you look really swell today." Teddy teased him about having a crush on me (he also took the liberty to tease me to); I chose to ignore all of them, especially Teddy.

Teddy was like a brother to me, we'd lived on the same street all our lives, we'd both loved our fathers, and we'd both lost them too. Everybody knew about Teddy's dad, and everybody knew about mine. My dad was always at work, ever since I could remember he was always working, he was kind towards me and my mother and always brought us gifts when he'd come back from long business trips.

When I was nine, things started to go bad, my mother would argue with my father about money, and that how was he working so much and we were still poor. My father stormed out, and my mother got a job waitressing in one of the stingiest of bars, I was alone at home for two weeks until my father came home one night. My mother had fallen asleep on our passed-down couch, the liqueur she had absorbed had finally overwhelmed her, and I'd had some peace to study at last. My father ignored me as he came in through the front door, I'd ran to greet him but he pushed past me. I was confused but continued to follow him as he went upstairs into the bedroom, pulled out a suitcase and started to throw his belongings into it. I started to cry and asked him where he was going, if it was another business trip. For the fifteen minutes he had come home, he had shown no emotion, and when he went back through the door, my mother awoke, and I followed him out into the rain, crying, begging him to talk to me. I grabbed onto his leg, he pushed me off, got into his car and drove off. I ran as fast as I could.

I woke up the next in bed, I'd caught a fever, the doctor was sat next to my bed, telling my mother I needed to have at least two weeks bed-rest before going outside. In those two weeks, not only did I begin to hate my father, but my mother as well, and when you're an only child, it can create a miserable childhood.

From that day I became bitter, and none of the girls in school would go near me, they had their 'precious happy lives' to lead, while I rotted in my own hell with my whore of a mother. Things got worse in high school, I was bullied by the populars and the hoods, they looked down on me and labeled me as 'the misery chick'. I took refuge with Teddy and his friends in their tree house, they knew what it was like to be bullied and even though they were reluctant for me to be part of their gang at first, Teddy persisted that 'I was okay for a girl' and eventually they let me hang out with them.

I remember once when we were thirteen, I'd noticed I was changing in the female departments, my mother had never warned me about puberty and school didn't talk about that kind of thing, so when I woke up to the site of blood between my sheets I was terrified. I began to cry and screamed for my mother, she came into my room looked at me and the bed and walked back out. She came back in a few minutes and threw a pack of sanitary towels at me, then she left again. When I'd finally stopped cry half an hour later, it was time to go to school, I got ready and walked there quickly, taking the shortcut through the field. I felt myself burn for hatred of my mother as I got onto school grounds, I knew that there were physical changes like growing taller, boobs and hips and hair, from the other girls conversations I had managed to hear in the toilets. But this. This was something else. I vowed to myself at that moment that when I returned home that night it would be my last time there.

That night, I packed up all my money, some food and clothes and left the house, my mother was sat in the kitchen when I did. I was thirteen and it was twelve o'clock at night, she didn't say anything, my own mother let me walk out of that door. I shut the door behind me and felt like this was the beginning of an adventure, I didn't know where I should go, I had no family, I'd never even left Castle Rock. But the night was cool and crisp and my questions melted away as I began to walk in the direction of the tree house, as I did I remembered the time the guys had gone to find Ray Browers body without me. When Verno told us, they suggested I shouldn't go because I was a girl, Chris stuck up for me for a few minutes, but only because I'd managed to distract his older brother Eyeball the week before, while Chris avoided a beating. I was going to go with them whether they liked it or not, follow them if I had to, but that morning my mother's current fancy man didn't approve of my 'sassy behavior' and beat me till I was unconscious. My mother of course, did nothing.

I reached the tree house and left a prepared note for them, saying that I was okay and just had to get away from Castle Rock, I asked them not to say anything to anybody about the note. And with that, I left for the train station.

The police found me three weeks later, just five miles away from the Maine borderline. It wasn't till I got back that I discovered from Teddy that it wasn't my mother who had put out the search for me, it was the school when they'd noticed my absence for a few days. My mother did her part though, she played the role of good mother when I returned for the town's sake, but everything was back to normal within a week.

The guys asked me constantly about what had happened in those three weeks, and no matter how persuasive they tried to be (Verno even offered me his jar of pennies, that is, when he found it) I never told them. The four of them had noticed a change in me, an awareness I suppose and my boobs, for a whole month it was the only thing they looked at while I was speaking. I came to the conclusion that I despised them, and instead of wearing a bra like all the other girls, I used bandage tape to tape them down. I didn't grow outwards much more; I was always running about with the guys and my narrow body stayed narrow, a slight hint of hips and taped down boobs. I was as tall as Chris, which meant I was taller than the others, that was until the next year when they had their growth spurts and I became the shortest.

I was just above average height for a girl at 5'8, and the lack of meat on my bones meant I had another reason to be teased for at school. The boys however turned my body shape into a positive thing and nicknamed me 'Sparrow' for my twig like legs, scattered personality and ability to hum unconsciously like a bird. At fifteen, me and the boys had begun to ignore what the school called its 'social norm' and did what we liked. We skipped classes, joyrided cars, climbed trees, smoked and got drunk, we even crashed a few parties. We then began to be noticed, we were known by the other kids in school, but not enough to be popular, and we weren't bullies, so we weren't the 'new hoods'. To everyone else we were five different people who should be in different social groups, we became labeled as freaks because of this 'scary individuality' from not conforming. We didn't care.

It was the night of my sixteenth birthday and the five of us laid out in the field near our tree house. We were drunk. Very drunk. And as Teddy and Verno were play-wrestling over God knows what, I took a drag of my cigarette and looked into the night sky.

I am sixteen. My only friends are boys. I hate my mother. I am abused at least once a week by someone. My grades are bad and my manners even worse. I tape down my boobs. I am seen as a rebel. I am Deborah Harris. The Sparrow.


	2. The Day It All Changed

Chapter Two: The Day It All Changed

I was looking up into the nights sky, I was sixteen, it still wasn't legal for me to do anything… well drive a car but that's not as fun as all the other age limit stuff …but who cared because I was sixteen. I sat up and began to open another bottle of beer, I noticed eyes on me when I did this.

I looked up to see Chris smirking at me, cigarette hanging lazily at the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, Mr Chambers?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

He took a drag of his cigarette and gave me a sincere smile that could melt even my heart (not that he knew that), "You're trying to open the bottle with the wrong end"

I looked down and realized what a dumb-ass I was. My shoulders started shaking as I held in laughter, I hung my head down, my hair hiding my face so Chris couldn't see my nostrils flare outrageously as I began snorting laughter. Chris shortly joined and we were both on the ground holding our sides as our laughter mingled together as it rushed into the air.

We would have stayed like that for longer, possibly forever, if Teddy and Verno hadn't suddenly wrestled themselves on top of us. Teddy landed on top of Chris and Verno landed on top of me. I was still gasping for breath, for laughing or the weight of Verno…I wasn't sure.

"Teddy, get off of me you shitheap!" I heard Chris yell, followed by Teddy 'oofing' as he got knocked to the ground.

My laughing began to slow as I realized Verno hadn't made any attempt to move away from the top of me. Which in return made me uncomfortable, no matter how drunk I was.

Our eyes met and he blushed, I then felt something hard against my stomach, and trust me, it wasn't a beer bottle.

"Ewww! Verno!" I managed from new oncoming laughter as I pushed him off, which was impressive to say he was almost twice my size. Well, practically everyone was twice my size. When I'd died my hair a shocking red the summer before, my nickname from the people who 1) Didn't like me or 2) Really didn't like me was "Matchstick".

Verno blushed more as I wriggled away from the three guys, "S-sorry Debbie."

I laid on my side a few feet away from the guys, my arms wrapped around my stomach as my denim clad legs kicked about from the laughter. I was severly drunk.

Teddy and Chris were looking to-and-fro with puzzled faces at Verno and me, which made me laugh harder. Teddy latched on first, his high-pitched laughter kicking in against my own. Chris began chuckling self-consciously and looking at me with questioning eyes. I wiggled my eyebrows at him in response and laughed harder.

Five minutes later the laughing had died down, even Verno had managed a weak laugh. We sat/laid there silently for a few moments, taking drags on our cigarettes, taking sips of beers, playing with our hair…the last one was me…obviously…That was until Teddy broke the silence

"Don't worry Verno," he started in a very sensible voice, "It's a normal part of becoming a man. Just remember to carry a notebook with you at all times in case it happens again."

Chris then latched on, and all of us except Verno began laughing even harder than last time.

"Shut up Four-eyes!" He cried, pouncing on Teddy and they began to wrestle again.

Me and Chris giggled for a few moments after and didn't speak until our breathing had gone back to normal. I looked at Chris to see him looking at me, I looked away embarrassed, until he spoke and I was forced to look back.

"Would you like to wrestle me, Sparrow?" He made suggestive eyebrows and smiled charmingly.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "No thank you, Christopher," I said in a sickly sweet voice as I stood up, "But thank you for the offer. I think I'll go and see what our dear friend Lachance is up to."

I walked unsteadily towards the lake where Gordie was sat, falling over only twice, which was a record for me when I'm that drunk and I have that much distance to travel. When I was finally only a few feet away from him I collapsed to the ground and sighed. He was smoking and gazing over the lake in a brood-ish way. Which, with those big brown eyes of his, was how Gordie looked at almost everything.

"Can I bum one?" I asked looked up at him.

"Sure." He threw me his pack of fags and I lit one with my own lighter.

As he took them back and shoved them into his pants pocket, he turned and looked behind to the others, "I'm surprised your not over there wrestling the others."

I gave a soft chuckle and rested on my elbows as I glanced to where Chris had now joined and the three of them were just a blur of arms and legs.

"Nah. Too much testosterone for me." I said, as I laid back down and took a deep drag of my cigarette.

He looked at me with serious eyes, "Come on. Verno's more pussy than you."

I started to choke on the cigarette smoke and a small smile played across his lips. He passed me his beer and I gratefully downed the rest of it in two gulps. I threw the bottle aside and watched as it gently rolled to the lakes edge.

"Hey! We could do a message in a bottle to celebrate my birthday!" I cried as if I were the most cleverest person in the world at that moment for thinking of such a great idea.

Gordie laughed and looked at me. "Why? So the people who can be bothered to walk around to the other side of the lake can read it?"

I shrugged and let out a 'meh'. I was wondering why Gordie hadn't been himself today lately, and then I remembered the night before. It had been 'Parents Night' at High School, I was accustomed to my mother never attending shindigs like that. But Gordie was still finding it hard to cope with. But then, I was filled with hatred and bitterness, Gordie was filled with longing and remorse.

He stood up suddenly and my train of thought was broken. "I'm going to go get another beer." And then he began to walk over towards the others, who had still not finished wrestling.

Boys, I'd never understand them.

I turned and looked at the bottle. I grabbed my pen from the back pocket of my jeans, and a scrappy receipt I had from a magazine I'd bought earlier that week. I sat upright and used my knee to lean on as I scribbled onto the piece of paper.

_Boys. Does anyone understand them? – The Sparrow _

I rolled it up and placed it into the bottle, and then used some damp clay sand stuff near the waters edge to block it up. I threw it as far as I could towards the centre of the lake. Ignoring which way the current was going.

I laid back down, wondering how many stars I could count before Gordie got back. The answer: 14.

"You did a message in a bottle you?" He said peering down at me, holding two beer bottles.

"What makes you say that?" I was suddenly curious to know if Gordie was psychic.

He pointed to the water's edge and, leaning upwards, I saw that my bottle had comeback.

"Ah! F-udge!"

"By the way, Chris said he wanted to talk to you about something." Gordie said as he sat down.

My eyes instantly lit up. "Maybe it's my present! He said he'd give it me tonight!" I did a little dance as I sat there.

Gordie rolled his eyes at my dancing.

I playfully punched him in the arm, "I'd like to see you do better."

"Okay," he said in all seriousness and began to do this strange wiggling/sliding extravaganza all while sitting down next to me. I laughed and was glad to have the fun Gordie back.

I began to stand up, "Please," I paused. "Do that more often."

And then galloped away before he could respond. I reached our main little party zone where all the beer was to find Chris wasn't there, and I fell over nine times. Maybe that time earlier had only been a fluke…

"Hey, where's Chris? I think he's going to give me my present!" I did a little jump of glee and Teddy and Verno looked at me and then at each other.

"I'll never understand the deal with chicks and presents." Teddy said shaking his head.

I nudged him gently with my foot, "I resent that!" I took the last drag of my cigarette and then stomped it out in the grass.

"Anyway, where's Chris?" I asked, hands on hips.

"He's over in those trees having a slash." Teddy pointed to a small gathering of trees about gazillion feet from where we were stood. Well, more like a hundred or something more realistic…

"Thanks for the details." I said before I began to skip over to the trees.

And I only fell over once! Maybe the skipping was doing it, I should skip more often, probably build up more thigh muscles too…What was I thinking? Presents!

I walked into the middle of the gathering, where there was a clearing. But no Chris.

"Chris? Hello! Present?"

I heard him call out. "Close your eyes."

I ignored his statement and looked about, "Where are you?"

"Close your eyes!"

I closed them, "Fine," I said as I heard his footsteps approach, crunching leaves and snapping twigs, "no need to get all huffy about it." He stopped in front of me. "Can I open my eyes yet?"

He chuckled, "Not yet. You want to spoil the surprise?"

"Oh no," I took on a mock-sincere voice, "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Keep them closed."

I nodded.

"Ready for your present?"

I nodded more eagerly.

"Happy Birthday"

And before my eyes began to open, his lips met mine. They were warm and slightly wet, they tasted of beer and cigarettes. And I knew, before I began to kiss back, that this was how I'd always wanted my first kiss to happen.


End file.
